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MPs from both side of the House of Commons have tabled amendments to the Repeal Bill ahead of its committee stage (Mail, September 2017, link).

Whilst there may be a case for certain aspects of the Bill to be amended, MPs must ensure that these amendments respect the referendum mandate of taking back control of our laws, borders, money and trade. This means leaving the EU’s single market and customs union.

On top of this, MPs must not use a proposed vote on the deal reached between the UK and Brussels as an attempt to keep Britain in the EU. This would be wholly undemocratic, and would go against the wishes of the 17.4 million people who voted to leave the EU.

MPs should remember that a YouGov survey held after the election revealed that 70% of the public want Brexit to be enacted, including 26% who voted Remain (YouGov, June 2017, link).

EU’s power-grab plans show why UK was right to vote Leave

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and his chief of staff, Martin Selmayr, have both made clear their wishes for more powers to be given to the EU.

In his State of the Union address, Mr Juncker called for further integration of member states, suggesting that by 2019 he hoped that ‘being a full member of the euro area, the Banking Union and the Schengen area has become the norm for all EU Member States.’ (European Commission, September 2017, link).

His aim for further powers to be moved from member states to the EU are evident in his wishes to merge the jobs of European Council president and European Commission president into a super-president role. Juncker also called on the bloc to pursue a ‘credible enlargement project to the countries of the western Balkans’ (BBC, September 2017, link).

Mr Selmayr echoed Juncker, urging those countries who wish to remain at the ‘core’ of the EU to join the euro (Telegraph, September 2017, link).

Many people voted Leave in the referendum because they feared Brussels’ plans to seize more power from member states and its wishes to bring more countries into the EU. These recent announcements by Juncker and his team demonstrate why Brits were right to vote Leave.

Good economic news

The latest ONS stats reveal unemployment has fallen to 4.3% and the total employment rate is at its highest level ever - 75.3% - in the three months to July (BBC, September 2017, link).

It has been revealed that there are more M&A deals in tech in London than anywhere else in the world with the exception of the US. Since 2010, nearly 1,234 start-ups at a value of nearly $95bn have been sold. There have been more deals in London than the next six top cities in Europe combined, including Berlin and Paris (CityAM, September 2017, link).

In a vote of confidence in the UK, global defence company Thales (which reported a 2015 turnover of €15 billion) has announced that it will build new bases in Plymouth and Wales, creating 60 high-skilled jobs. The investment is part of a £7 million ‘major commitment’ to develop autonomous and unmanned technology in the UK. (Plymouth Herald, September 2017, link).